When you take your bike to High Gear Bike Shop in Prescott, Arizona you will notice two things right off the bat. The shop is always busy, and they have a lot of inventory. One of the reasons they are busy is they have great mechanics.

One of those mechanics is the unassuming Johnny Stevens. This low key, friendly wrencher is like Jekyll and Hide however, put him on a BMX bike and turn him loose in a park or on the streets, and he becomes a raging madman on two wheels.

Johnny is one of the team riders for the Proper Bike Co. when he is not fixing bikes here in Prescott.

On Sunday, Tom and I drove our vehicles down to the Gloriana Mine trail head of the Black Canyon Trail that is near the Bumble Bee road exit on I-17. I put my bike behind his on this bike rack, loaded my gear into his Supra, and we headed back up to the Old Sycamore trail head where we would start our ride.

When we parked up on Old Sycamore and started to unload our bikes, Tom noticed his front tire was flat, in fact it was more than just flat, it had melted! The way his bike was sitting on the rack, it was too close to his exhaust pipe, and during the trip up the hill from Bumble Bee Road, he had unintentionally vulcanized the side of his nearly new (and expensive) tire. There was smiley faced shaped hole in it and his tube had popped.

What to do? Do we cancel the ride and drive back down to get my truck? Do we drive into Prescott Valley and see if he can buy a new tire? NO! We try to figure out a way to repair it. Tom put a section of his old tube around his spare tube and then sleeved the tire with a dollar bill. He pumped it up and it appeared like it was holding. A few pedals around the parking area and a couple of bunny hops and it was still holding, so it should hold for a 25 mile ride through rocks and cactus right???? What the heck, we were up for an adventure.

Nearly 3 miles in, we came to a gate near a big cairn topped with a pile of cow bones. It appeared that the dollar bill was pushing through the sidewall of the tire…..Hmm I guess the Stan’s that had leaked out of his first melted tube had soaked the dollar bill making it weak and susceptible to tearing. Tom decided to try a different method of repair. He stuck 3 self adhesive repair patches to the inside of the tire, overlapping one another so they covered the entire melted gash and reinforced each other. Then refolded the dollar bill and put it back in, then the section of old tube, then the new tube……

It was ugly, and we had no idea if it would hold, but we bold set out where no melted tire had gone before!

The ride itself was outstanding. The weather was perfect, and the trail was not muddy at all. We stopped where the BCT crosses the road near Cordes Ranch to take a look at the repair and it appeared to be holding just fine.

The next section of the BCT down to the Hidden Treasure Mine trail head is one of my favorite sections because of the way the trail meanders down the sides of the narrow Antelope Creek Canyon. The thin, loose granite trail with the super steep and rocky exposure demands concentration, as there is a big penalty for failure.

We stopped for a snack and to check the tire again at the Hidden Treasure Mine trailhead. So far so good. We then headed out onto the really fun section of the BCT that climbs up and over some foothills on the way to the bridge near the town of Bumble Bee.

Here we were, 20 miles into a ride on a very popular trail, on a perfect Sunday afternoon, and we hadn’t seen a soul. Crazy. We started the short but punishing half mile climb up the jeep road, knowing that the truck was only 5 miles away now. At the top of the jeep road we stopped to check the tire, and to talk about the very different trail types we had already been on, and what was yet to come. I agreed with Tom that the next 4.5 miles of the BCT were probably the most technical miles on the entire 65 mile length of the the trail.

Me on the Black Canyon Trail

As we rode along this section, the shadows grew long and my legs were telling me they needed to be done soon. With about a mile to go, we caught up with two other Prescottonians, Billy and Christi who were doing an out and back from the Gloriana Mine trail head. After we went by them, we were like horses running to the barn. We pounded out that last mile as if it were our first, anticipating putting the bikes away and having a nice cold beer.

When we rolled up to the truck, neither of us could believe that the repair job on that melted-open tire had made it through 25 miles of rough terrain.

It was and adventure all right, and it turned out better than we could have hoped.

The 2011 12 Hours At Night endurance mountain bike race in Prescott, AZ is in the books, and we can’t wait for next year!

There are lots of photos posted HERE. Thanks to Brooke Photography for taking some great photos. You can definitely tell which are taken by the professional, and which were taken by me. If you ever need photos taken by a pro with an amazing eye for finding the extraordinary shot, use Brooke Photography.

Lap Count Results are:

Place

#

NamE

Total Laps

SOLO MALE

1

127

Jim Koziol

16

2

101

Zach Stanford

15

3

105

Rich Maines

12

4

107

Mike Park

12

4

113

Brian Roberts

12

6

112

Dan Kuch

11

7

129

Ward Tyczka

10

8

109

James Bliss

9

8

114

Alan Honyestewa

9

9

102

Scott Golden

8

11

104

Richard Sharp

8

12

108

Jim Alred

6

13

106

Phil Ryder

4

14

124

Donald Kavanagh

3

15

111

Gene Argust

3

16

125

David Bush

2

103

Ryan Coates

126

Tom Stack

SOLO FEMALE

1

116

Crankin’ for a Spankin’

12

2

115

Becky Bliss

8

3

117

Sandi Scrimgeour

6

4

128

Sharon Marzonie

4

SOLO SINGLE SPEED

1

110

GeoManGear

13

2

120

Darren Tsosie

10

3

118

Team Crossfit

7

4

121

David Rowe

6

5

123

Taylor Lideen

5

122

Walt Lopus

DUO MALE

1

203

Celtic Cow

15

2

204

Red Energy

13

3

205

How Much Longer!?

11

4

202

Iron Giant

7

5

206

The Burearcrats

6

3 MALE

1

302

Esso Watches Racing

16

2

303

Midnight Cramp Campaign

16

3

305

Sunday Cycles

14

4

304

Sammy’s Road Kill Crew

13

5

301

Team Laughing in the face of RA

12

3 SINGLE SPEED

1

307

One Cog

16

2

309

Waiting for Sunrise

16

3

308

BLVD Bike

12

Full race results and lap times will be posted to the event page in a few days.

The Official Results of the 2011 Go! Off Road Duathlon held in Prescott, AZ on March 12, 2011 are now posted on the GORD website.

Here are a few highlights and other tidbits about the event.

Fastest Overall Male – Dan Hight (39) from Prescott with a time of 59:57. Dan came in from the first run 58 seconds behind the leader, but rode the fastest mountain bike leg with a blistering split of 34:53 for the 8.2 mile course.

Fastest Overall Female – Sandi Scrimgeour (46) from Prescott with a time of 1:15:22. Sandi also had the fastest female bike split with a 43:43.

Other things to note are:

On his final trail running leg, Chris Bray ran at a 5:58/mile pace.

Vickie Nelson of Team BFC Racing had the fastest women’s pace of 7:05/mile on the final leg.

Resolute Sasquatches (either Pete or Justin) had the fastest pace of the day at 5:52/mile….wow! That is smokin’.

Brian from The Fat Tire Loafers had the fastest team bike leg at 36:34.

There are some photos posted on the GO-AR Shutterfly page. If you were there and took any photos, or know someone who did, please send them to us at this address: info (@) go-ar.com, we can put them up for all to see.

Michael, Frank and I went out to Granite Basin on Sunday afternoon to enjoy some of the sweetest single track around….or so we thought.

It appears the forest thinning project that the National Forest Service has contracted out has decimated most of trail 349, and part of trail 350.

Trail 349 west of Granite Basin Rd. is almost non-existent. The bushes are all gone (sort of). They have been hogged out and shredded. Bits of brush and branches lay scattered all over the forest floor, including on the trail. This and the truck and tractor tire depressions left in the soft earth have made the trail disappear.

It is my sincere hope that the Forest Service make sure that the contractor goes back in and restores the trails. If for some reason that doesn’t happen, there will be a multitude of hikers, bikers and equestrians very, very upset!

After this next weekend, I shall head back out there to see what if any restoration has been performed…….Stay tuned.

Taylor was here last year to use our event as a training race for the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships (where he took 3rd), but had to withdraw after 5 laps because he was tearing open the fresh stitches in the palm of his hand. He had the fastest time through those 5 laps with a 1 min. 25 sec. lead over Vassago team rider Zach Stanford.

We are very happy to announce that Ergon is on board with us as a sponsor for the upcoming 12 Hours At Night endurance mountain bike ride.

Bike ergonomics is an extremely complicated endeavor and requires knowledge across different disciplines. The development team at Ergon is made up of specialists in various areas; there are bike experts, racers, sports scientists, ergonomics experts, engineers and industrial designers.

Prescott, Arizona – The Go! Off Road Duathlon is to be held on March 20th, and is in need of volunteers to do a multitude of jobs on and off the course in order to make the race a fun and safe event for all the participants.

The race is in triathlon format, except there is a run in place of the swim, and it all takes place on trails! It starts with a 1.5 mile trail run, then a 8.2 mile mountain bike ride, followed by a 2.2 mile trail run.

If you would like to volunteer for this event, please visit the link above to visit the race site.

Yesterday a group of us drove over to Cottonwood and into the Dead Horse Ranch State Park to ride a trail people call Thumper Loop.

There are 120+ members of the Prescott Mountain Biking facebook group now, so when a group ride event is posted, someone always shows up! Yesterday was no different.

Some of us carpooled, and others just met there at the park. When we got there, the Park Ranger who built the Thumper Trail met us and directed us up to a different trailhead. This caused some confusion, and we found out later that some of the group didn’t find us. All in all we had about 17 or 18 people show up to ride.

Prescott Mountain Biking Group Ride

The Thumper Loop Ride is really made up of 3 trails. The Lower Raptor Trail is a 2 mile climb out of the Verde River valley up onto the plateaus to the northeast. Then it connects to the Thumper Trail which is a raucous romp southward that has multiple small drops and one section of rowdy drops.

Then we turned onto the Lime Kiln Trail and headed back down toward the Park. This trail has a few really fun drops and surprises in store as well, including some crazy exposures and one last big drop right before the road.

Steve on the last drop

We took a Park trail back up to the trail head where the loop began, regrouped, then did the whole loop again! Awesome!

Last Saturday a bunch of us from Prescott drove down from our snow covered enclave to warmer and dryer pastures.

We met at the Table Mesa trailhead on the Black Canyon Trail (BCT) to do an out and back to the south toward the Emery Henderson trailhead on New River Road.

By the time everyone arrived, the twenty or so riders we expected had ballooned by word of mouth to thirty four!

This was one HUGE group ride!

The rains the week before had left the trail a perfect tackiness, and we had some cloud cover as we climbed about 600′ over the first 2 miles or so.

The group naturally split up into various smaller groups, with the hammer-heads out front, and us intermediates in the middle and some of the more tentative or less experienced in the back.

Everyone re-grouped at the big saddle and headed down across the Doe Spring access road and on toward the top end of the Boy Scout Loop.

We regrouped again at the north side of a climb over a saddle just before the trail junction at Boy Scout Loop. Here, about half of us decided to go ahead and do the loop, while the rest chose to head back to the north.

We climbed up and over the saddle, descended a fairly technical section of narrow single track, and found ourselves at the trail junction. We decided to do the loop in a counter-clockwise direction. I had my GoPro Hero video camera mounted on my bars, and took this video of this section. Of course by the time I figured out how to turn it on, I was on the trail alone.

The day ended up being perfect for riding, temp about 60°F and the sun came out for the second half of the ride.

We did about 14 miles that day, no one got hurt, and all 34 riders had a great day on the bike!

We have just finalized dates and permits for the 2010 Go! Off Road Duathlon to be held once again in Prescott, Arizona in the spring.

The race date is March 20, 2010. Race registration will open on November 15th, and will close when we have 150 entries or on race day whichever comes first.

For all the information about the GORD visit the race web page. You can also look in the tag cloud to the left and click on GORD to see all the posts that have the race tagged in them. This includes results from the 2009 event so you know what to shoot for!

I just got back from an evening ride with Hal, Steve, and Robert that included a new trail that just opened this week. Trail 317

We started out in The Pines, and then took 332 from the Fireplace up to where White Rock Trail crosses it. From here we headed east on White Rock and followed it past the junction with that knarly Fireplace Connector Trail and on down toward the Thumb Butte Park. When we hit the next intersection, we took a left as if we were going to go down the Longs Canyon Trail, but instead, took a left onto the brand new Trail 317 (no local name yet).

This new trail is a real blast! It follows the contours and very slowly descends along the west side of Longs Canyon, then tops the ridge and takes a more westerly heading down into the Kingswood subdivision, where it comes out at the very top end of Windy Walk Lane. The trail is very well routed, and has a nice flow to it. Sure, right now it has all the choppiness that new trails have due to the cutting with McLeods, but soon with just a few weeks of use, it will be fantastic! It also offers up some wonderful views north of Granite Mountain and the San Francisco Peaks.

I highly recommend this new trail to mountain bikers of intermediate skill level, and hikers of all levels (well, except you Bodine……you know why!)

Steve and I decided to go try out the new Lakeshore Trail at Watson Lake.

It takes off of the Peavine Trail at mile marker 1, and meanders through the giant rocks that are the Granite Dells of Prescott.

We soon found out that this trail is highly technical, and (for us anyway), involves as much hike-a-bike as it does riding. There are some really fun sections where you ride right up and over some of the large granite formations, but there are also some places that are more suitable for a trial specialist.

Steve rides down a granite face.

The afternoon was perfect, as the temperatures had dropped to about 80°, and the sun was low in the West. Chris at the City of Prescott had done a lot of work to make this trail a reality, and we enjoyed exploring it.

Dave crossing one of the smooth granite creek bottoms.

The trail took us out into and amongst the towering orange granite boulders.

Doing my best trials rider impression.

There were several places that required maintaining a narrow line along a ridge of granite, and because I don’t usually ride super technical stuff, I found it pretty difficult, and sometimes scary. This photo is the close up of the one above.

Steve noted that it was very hard to get into any kind of a rythm, because the terrain was so choppy that it was hard to get a flow going.

This trail was fun to go try, but really wasn’t my cup o’ tea for a couple of reasons. First, I am a whimp when it comes to stuff that looks like I may break a bone or two (this has to do with the required recovery time and medical bills), and Secondly, I prefer a ride that keeps the cardio going and isn’t stop and start.

I am sure that there are some studly riders out there that can ride this whole trail in one shot, I am just not one of them!

For those of you that think that Willow Dells is too easy, or has been dumbed down for us whimpy riders, come try this one on for size!

One thing to take note of on the results sheet, is that Taylor Lideen was on a torrid pace when the stitches in the palm of his hand started to tear out, and he was forced to drop out after posting the fastest time for the first 5 laps.

He is trying to heal up so he can race in a big endurance event is a couple of weeks. I really would have liked to see how many laps he could have put on the board. We hope to see Taylor back here next year to see what he can do.

We put on the 12 Hours At Night mountain bike ride last night, and it went so smoothly that it was scary!

The riders seemed to have a great time, we have the best volunteers you could ask for, and there were no injuries.

Results will be posted in the next couple of days, but I can tell you that the top lap count was 17 laps at 8.2 miles per lap…..yep, that is riding 140 miles on dirt trails on a mountain bike…AT NIGHT!!

I went out this morning and lightly marked the course for next weekend’s 12 Hours At Night mountain bike ride.

The course is marked with white sprayed chalk arrows on the ground. Feel free to pre-ride it to get a feel for the flow, although it is a whole different animal at night with only headlights to show you the trail!

On race day night, we will mark it with much more authority. The chalk will be flowing, and we will also have white flagging along the course.

Temps should be about 80° to start, and then cooling to 60° through the night……….summertime perfection!

This endurance orienteering event was held up on the Mogillion Rim northeast of Payson, Arizona. Along with the 8 hour competition, there were also 12 and 24 hour events.

We arrived at about 8:30am and had just enough time to set out our gear and double check our supplies before maps were handed out at 9:00. The course would open at 11:00am. This gave us 2 hours to plan our best route in order to maximize our score and still make it back by the 8 hour cut off. We decided to stay primarily on the east side of the map in the area of Wildcat Canyon. In looking at the topo map, we could could see that the terrain was steep, and would be slow going in some areas. There were so many tall ponderosa pines, that we also knew that navigating would not be done by landmarks, but by bearing and distance.

When the course opened we started out to the south at a good brisk hiking pace of 6km/hr. I had fairly new shoes, but I figured they would be fine. We found our first control right away, then headed for the second. On the way to it, I could already feel a little hot spot developing on my heel…..darn.

We got the second control then headed for the third. On the way to it, I decided I had better change socks and put on a thicker pair. Too late!! My heel already had a nickel sized blister on it. Bummer, we were only 3 miles in, and I was already having issues. I put on my thicker wool socks and tightened up my shoe and off we went.

For the first 3 hours, our navigation was spot-on. We walked right to every control, until we tried to find the dreaded number 45! We figured it to be exactly 90° and 500 meters from the intersection of two forest roads on the map, so after we found the intersection, we followed our compasses east for about 500 meters…..nothing! We walked in big circles….nothing! We went back up to the center of the ridge and followed it down according to the topography…..still nothing!! We eventually decided to move on to the next control. Dang it, we had just wasted 30 minutes and missed out on 40 points!

We hiked into a very steep walled canyon that was the main part of Wildcat Canyon toward an 80 point control. Once in the bottom, we made good time and found the control without any problem. Our fiasco with #45 now required that we re-evaluate our proposed route. We would not have enough time to get as many controls as we had originally planned. So we modified (code for shortened) our intended route.

Somewhere on the way to the next control, my heel blister burst with an agonizing burning feeling and I could feel the liquid in my sock. Yuck! Oh well, nothing I could do about it now! And on we went. Now you might be asking yourself, “Doesn’t he know about moleskin?” The answer is yes, I do, however, my feet sweat so profusely when I hike that nothing, and I mean nothing will stick to them. So moleskin is a no-go for me, neither is duct tape, or band-aids, or anything else.

In order to try and shorten this story, I will tell you that we navigated very well the remainder of our day and made it back to the Start/Finish with under five minutes to spare, having scored 790 points and hiked over 21 miles in 8 hours.

The route we took at the Rogaine

We weren’t sure where that ranked us, but have since discovered that 790 points was good enough for 5 place overall, and 1st place in the team division. That’s right, we are the North American Rogaine Champions (in the 8 hour team event).

This last Saturday I was talked into going on a road ride. A bunch of us headed out White Spar Rd. at 7:00AM. We had the whole spectrum of riding abilities in our group, we had two Cat2 riders, two Cat3 riders, a Cat5 rider, and three of us that would fall somewhere below that, all the way down to me.

The strong riders were very patient and stopped and waited for the rest of us to trickle in several times. When we reached the top at mile marker 305, Paul said he wasn’t feeling so hot, and decided to turn around and make it a day.

From there down through the switchbacks, we all stayed in a pellaton (big word for a mountain biker huh?), and rode at an incredibly fast (for me) speed through those corners. On the last tight left hand corner I was praying that my tires would hold the line, and we slingshotted out of it and continued at a breakneck descent until we passed the cattleguard and had the climb up to mile marker 298. When I finally made it to the group, three of them had decided that they would go all the way to People’s Valley before turning around. Dave and I (no I am not being schitzophrenic) decided we would turn around at the Wilhoit store, and Kent said he would do so as well. Steve, decided he would go to the Kirkland Junction then head back.

We formed another pellaton for the descent to Wilhoit, and really hammered it to over 43 miles and hour for that section. Kent and Keith did a sprint in the flats to the next cattleguard, and I sat up and tried to recover before turning into the store. Dave, Kent and I spent about 10 minutes at the store, refilled our water bottles and started back toward town.

The climb all the way back up to 305 was pretty uneventful, we just rode at the pace that I could sustain, and when we got to the top I was feeling pretty good still. On the descent into town, a little yellow boxy car went by us, and Kent gave it everything he had to get into the draft of the car. Dave and I couldn’t catch it, and we watched as Kent and the yellow car disappeared from view. Dave and I traded places to let each other draft some on the way back into town, and we kept up a pretty good pace. We pulled into the parking lot at Safeway about 30 seconds after Kent.

All in all it was a good ride, however, I had a terrible headache and my neck muscles were killing me for the entire rest of the day. I guess it is the position on a road bike that I can’t take. I have to lift my head up so far to see through my glasses that it just kills my neck. So, unless I get lasik surgery , I probably won’t be going road riding again anytime soon!

The 50 milers had gone off an hour before the 300 of us stacked up behind the starting line for the 25 Proof. There we were, facing into a strong headwind, ready to tackle the 28 miles and nearly 4000′ of climbing that lay ahead.

The Start

I spent the first mile or so working my way through the huge group of riders, until there were probably only 50 or 60 ahead of me. On the way up Copper Basin Rd. there was probably an equal number of those I passed and those who passed me, all battling the headwind and the hill. When we got to the steeps toward the end of the pavement, I worked hard to get up them and passed about 10 or 15 while I only had a group of 5 single speeders and a couple of others go by me.

I caught up to a big group in Camp Perlstein, and then promptly threw my chain of the inside of my front derailleur and watched 10 riders go by as I put the chain back on the ring. At the start of the 393 singletrack, there was a line of about 30 all bottlenecked up. While most waited patiently, knowing that there was no place to go, a couple were yelling and trying to ride by everyone else. Like the one guy behind me said, “That guy is worried that he might only get 200th place instead of 195th!”

First singletrack above Camp Perlstein

Once we were all actually on the 393, it worked itself out and we were all riding along at a good pace, until slannnng!..there went my chain onto bottom bracket again! Dang! Another 5 or 6 riders passed while I got my chain back on. At the Aspen Creek trailhead there was an awesome group of spectators and volunteers yelling and cheering us all onward and upward.

I climbed the new section of trail 48 “Rob’s hill”, and I have to admit that though it adds half a mile to the length of the course, it is much nicer than doing the hike-a-bike from hell that we used to do. I had a couple of guys go past me on the wide track section at the top, and then caught up with some more riders at the first set of water bars. No point in trying to pass them, as they were riding about the same speed that I was, and there were 6 or 7 in the group. After the first section of downhill water bars (there are about 8 of the 1 or 2 ‘ drops in a row), I noticed we were spread out again, and that there was no one close behind me. The traverse across the backside of Mt. Francis was smooth sailing, but we bunched up again on the last climb. Many people walked the majority of this section, as passing one rider really accomplished nothing.

As I pushed my bike to the top, I unclamped the seat post and lowered it for the upcoming descent. I passed 2 riders right away, and then came up on another and told him I would come by on the next available wider section. I started by and said, “On the left!”, but he moved to the left, and I had to swerve to avoid a collision, and went off trail into and through a bush, but managed to keep moving. We came to the first steep downhill and I stayed right behind him, not wanting another miscommunication mishap. On the last big drop at the bottom, he almost went over the bars, and I took that opportunity to go by him.

The 260 was a wicked combination of trail that had been powdered by all the 50 milers and sharp jagged rocks strewn haphazardly, this all on a super fast descent down a steep jeep trail. There were people all over the place, some with flat tires, some climbing back up onto the trail with their bikes after who knows what sent them over the edge, and one poor guy trying to figure out what to do with a rear derailleur hanging only by its cable. At one point, I had a guy pass me, and then watched as he bounced off the rocks and right onto the brink of a steep exposure, his feet off the pedals, front wheel swerving all over the place, and somehow he managed to veer back onto the trail instead of sailing off the cliff. I yelled, “Nice save!”, and he replied, “Holy #$%@, that was close!”

At the bottom, I stopped long enough to raise my seat back up and take a shot of Hammer Gel, then started the climb up the bottom of the canyon toward Aid Station 1. Part way up, I once again threw a chain…arrgh! Other than the frustration of that, I was feeling pretty good, and kept an even pace until just about 400 yards short of the Aid Station. I got off and pushed up the nastiest and steepest part, then got back on and rode the last 200 yards.

In my opinion, the toughest part of this entire ride is this next seemingly unending climb up to Thumb Butte Rd. Halfway up, I started to feel the beginnings of a cramp in my left quad, so I slowed down tried to spin it out…no go. So I got off and walked for a few minutes until it went away. Then back on the bike and up, up and up all the way to the Sierra Prieta overlook. Wow!, the group of spectators and volunteers here was fantastic, it was a great feeling to have just suffered through all that climbing, and have people there helping you celebrate and cheering you on.

I turned onto the singletrack and headed for town.

Looking Down the Rock Garden

I had one guy go past me early on, but then passed 2 riders before the first steep at turkey track, where there was a guy stopped right in the middle of the hill, in the middle of the trail, changing a tire! In the next mile of bombing down the ridgeline over lots of loose and jagged rocks, I saw 3 or 4 more people stopped with tire problems, and yet another stopped right in the middle of trail, his bike upside down, working on a flat!! I had to go around him into a pile of babyheads at breakneck speed, and was lucky to stay on my bike. At the rock garden, I caught up to 3 riders who were picking their way

Part of the Rock Garden

down it with their rear brakes locked up, just skidding down it…..so I just picked a line that allowed me to roll off the steep having just passed all 3 of them.

On the 51, I was big ringing it…just flying past people. I went past one guy, just before that off camber turn to the left, and soon discovered that the pass had taken me outside of my intended line and that I was carrying too much speed to hold the corner….and there in my way was a big downed tree! I hammered on the brakes and laid the bike down, scraping up my knee, and breaking my bike computer, but probably saving a taco-ed wheel and an over-the-bars excursion. I hopped up and was on my way again, pushing hard in the big ring. Toward the end of the 51, I could feel cramps creeping back into not only both quads now, but my hamstrings as well. I have been drinking lots of water, and electrolytes….what the heck???

On the 321 singletrack, I had 2 riders pass me, and I passed 4 who were stopped at various points along the short exposed trail. Then came the dreaded climb up the 323. I call it “Hell’s Hollow”, because it is tough, and climbs up and out of a little meadow. It is less than half a mile, but it is loose rock on a steep climb in full sunshine, 20 miles into the ride…..the perfect recipe for big-time suffering. I rode part, walked part, cramping here and there along the way. Right after the hill, I got back on and started riding only to have both my legs absolutely lock up. Both legs had hamstring and quad cramps at the same time!! All I could do was sit at the side of the trail in agony, while a whole stream of passing riders kindly asked if I was okay. After 5 or 6 minutes, they subsided enough for me to try again. I managed to limp along at about 5 mph to the top of the 392 Garden Grove trail.

One of the switchbacks at Garden Grove

This is one of my favorite sections of trail, so somehow I left my cramps behind and flew down the switchbacks, passing several riders who had slowed way down or stopped to negotiate the 4 hairpin corners. Out on the wider part the follows the canyon floor, I saw a guy 2 riders ahead of me go down hard, and his bike cartwheeled down the trail. The guy ahead of me stopped to help, and I asked him if he was okay when I got there. He said, “I think so,” so I continued on down. I caught up to some more riders and someone caught me from behind soon after we were on the section that parallels Thumb Butte Rd. There were a number of small bottlenecks at some of the more technical sections of this rocky trail, but nothing that was much of a delay at all.

I popped out onto Thumb Butte Road, and shifted into the big ring again. Two riders came out behind me and one shouted, “Let’s go guys!” as they went by, I tried to jump onto their wheel, but my hamstrings said “Nuh-uh!!” and I soft pedaled as I watched them dissapear ahead of me. I finally got up to speed, and held a good pace down the hill, despite the fact that there now seemed to be a headwind in this direction too! How could that be?? . Near the bottom, where it takes a big sweeping left hand turn, I saw my granddaughter and her mom standing my the side of the road looking for me…I waved and yelled to them as Haley yelled, “Go Grampy!!” This gave me a boost, and I caught another rider just before the light at Gail Gardner. I sat in behind him for a few seconds, knowing that the race director had switched part of the course back to one last climb up Park Ave. instead of taking Summit like last year. After coasting behind for a little rest, I went around thinking I could pull for a minute, but he dropped off and I was alone as I turned onto Park. When I made the turn onto Glenwood, I shifted into my tallest gear and accelerated. I was going 30+ mph as I swung wide onto Goodwin, and kept grinding toward the finish line.

Finishing the 2009 Whiskey Off Road

I could hear the voices of people I know cheering as I entered the chute, and finally rolled across the line 3 hours and 31 minutes after the start.

This year’s course was longer than those of previous years, so I couldn’t really compare times. That being said, I was still 19 minutes faster than last year, and came within 1 minute of my goal of 3:30. I finished 18th out of 61 finishers in my age division.

It was a great day, and top it off, I didn’t even throw up afterward this year!

Wednesday evening, Kent and I rode from Thumb Butte up the road (5.7 miles of UP!) to the Skull Valley overlook, then followed the last part of the Whiskey Off Road course back down to the truck.

The ride up was tough. My legs were already feeling a bit sore (could be a combination of so much riding lately and volleyball on Monday night), and on top of that, we were riding right into a very stiff and cold wind. We saw a group of 5 mule deer cross in front of us about 4 miles in. We made it to the overlook in 45 minutes, and then took the single track to the east.

The single track still has lots of loose sand and big rocks in it. Maybe it had a tough winter, or horses have been on it or something, because it is rough. I kicked some rocks and branches out of the way on the way down in an effort to make it a little more friendly.

When the single track opens up along a ridge into a two track, there is a big pine tree leaning over across the trail. It is not down on it yet, but it looks like it could come down at any time. This is on the trail I recently dubbed Turkey Track, because of wild turkeys roosting nearby.

At the bottom of Turkey Track, the Rock Garden Trail starts. The upper part of this is a two track, and is currently pretty rough. Lots of loose and sharp rock that takes your front wheel wherever it wants too. There will be some bloodletting in this section on race day, I guarantee it!

When you actually get to the Rock Garden, it has been cleaned up pretty nicely now. It is nowhere near as bad as it was even on Sunday. After the Rock Garden, the rest of the trails are in pretty nice shape. We saw another group of deer right next to the 321, they acted like they didn’t even care that we were there. Someone has even come in and cut the huge tree out of the way that was down on the bottom of the Garden Grove trail. There are still 4 wet crossings on that trail however.

The Miller Creek trail was in good shape. That is, as good a shape as it probably can be, with all the unmovable rocks that are in the middle of the trail as it snakes along the creek toward Thumb Butte Park. 3 wet crossings here.

We finished up just before dark, both hot from the ride, and cold from the evap cooling supplied by the strong winds. 12.4 miles, and my hamstrings feel like they are about to pop…

Jonea and I competed as Team GO-AR on Saturday in the DR Camp Verde Adventure Race put on by Sierra Adventure Sports. Though we are old enough to be master’s, there weren’t enough to make the division, so we raced in the Co-ed 2-person division.

The race started off in the Verde River with a 10 mile paddle. The flow rate was well below average, and we were told to expect to have to portage a few times. We got off to a good start and were in a group of about seven vessels that put a little separation on the pack early on. When we hit the first rapid at tree-island we felt what it meant to have this low a flow as we literally bounced down it on the rocks. Dave, Windy and Brigid of Team Big Fish Creative were right with us, then suddenly they weren’t…..we found out later that Dave’s kayak had taken on too much water and they had stopped for him to dump it out. The YogaSlackers and a solo jumped out to a lead over the rest of us, leaving a canoe with a 2-Male team, a tandem kayak with a 2-Male team, and us in our tandem kayak. The canoe slowly pulled away from us, and for a long way, it was just us and Team Equipe Tortue, neck and neck.

We were actually side by side as we approached a section of rapids that was probably plenty wide for both of us, but we decided to let them go ahead as a courtesy, just as they had done for us on one prior. Well, on this particular rapid, they hit a couple of big rocks and it threw them sideways and stopped them in their tracks (wakes?). As we maneuvered around them, we asked if they were okay and upon finding out things were fine, continued on our way. A while later I thought I heard them catching up with us again, but it turned out to be Team Those Guys instead. They made a pass on us when we over-steered on a bend, and they pulled up to the bank at the takeout spot about 5 seconds ahead of us. We carried our kayak the 200 meters up the bank and to the TA faster than they did however, and were 4th place overall after the paddle leg. We were very happy to be in that good a spot at that point in the race.

We took a while to transition to the bike leg, and at least 2 teams that came in after us left before us, including Big Fish and Equipe Tortue. I plotted the 2 CP’s that weren’t already on our map, and off we went. We had a very small downhill, then a 3.5 mile 1000′ climb to the CP2. Jonea hadn’t been on her bike much at all lately, so we agreed that I would tow her when I could. At the beginning of the hill, I hooked the tow rope up and downshifted………

After about 500′ of climbing, I heard someone coming up behind us and moved over just as Team FLG went by us with Scott towing Amber. Shortly after that we met the solo racer returning from the out-and-back, then 2 minutes after him was Big Fish. We kept climbing and met YogaSlackers, and a 2-Male team, then FLG, and then just before we got to the CP, we crossed paths with Equipe Tortue again. On the way down, we saw many teams climbing, and as we passed the location where we had met Big Fish, I noticed we were 23 minutes behind them. When we hit the main forest road again, we bombed the long straightaway, and then hooked up the tow again on the climb toward CP3. Just before we got to the cattle guard, I was pointing out to Jonea the trail we would be taking later on when a team rode out off of it, and I said, “Are you guys short course?” They said no they weren’t, and then they started to follow us….I said, “If you are long course, then you want to go that way to CP2!” They asked if I was sure and I hollered back that I was and good luck.

We arrived at CP3 which was a bike drop and a trek to 4 and 5. I had forgotten to put my shoes in my backpack, and was forced to do the trek in my mtb shoes. Good thing they are soft soled! On the way in, we again crossed paths with Big Fish (time check). We made quick work of scaling along the rock wall above Chasm Creek to get to CP4, then made the steep climb up to CP5. We passed Equipe Tortue at 5, and then headed back out the canyon. When we passed my time check point, we were now 25 minutes behind Big Fish. We went on out to CP3 to pick up our bikes and continue to the other point we had to plot, CP6.

On the out-and-back to CP6, we crossed paths with the 2-Male team again, and then as we were pushing our bikes up the very steep and loose rocked hill, Team FLG came down it, and I could smell hot brakes as they went by us. We picked up 6, and headed back. On the way down one of the hills, I crossed paths with a big green pickup, and then as Jonea came by it, a huge dog stuck its head out the back seat window and snapped a her, almost getting her on the arm, and scaring he be-geesus out of her!! We turned off the forest road onto the trail (barely) by the cattle guard, and headed down the last 2.5 miles toward the TA. About halfway down, another 2-Male team passed us, and I had lost track of where we stood in the rankings at that point.

We changed shoes, fueled ourselves and picked up the map and directions for the orienteering leg. It was a map showing Point A, and then had bearing and distance measurements (based on true north) to the next point, and so on, to all the subsequent points. Had I been thinking, and not in such a hurry, I would have gone ahead and drawn in all the lines and plotted the points, then figured the most efficient route…..but remember, I said had I been thinking! We took off in a hurry toward where we thought A was. On the way up, we saw Team FLG on their way toward the finish, and knew they would win the 2 Co-ed division that we were in. This new map was a different scale, and I took us about 4oo meters too far up the trail then off in the desert to look for it. After wasting about 10 or 15 minutes, we discovered our mistake and then zoomed through the 5 points without any further difficulty.

It seemed that my error in navigation was enough for the Equipe Tortue team to pass us on the orienteering leg and finish a few minutes ahead of us. We finished in 2nd place in our division, and (this is a guess until results are posted) about 8th overall.

It was a great day of racing and as always a ton of fun to hang out with fellow adventure racers!

It took me a couple of nights to sift through the time sheets and get it all put to spreadsheet, but I am happy to announce that the Official Results, including splits are now posted on the GORD site.

You may remember that I wrote last week that I thought a 40 minute split would be hard to do on this course? Well, I was being a piker!! There were 4 racers under 40 minutes, and the two top men did it in 34 and some change…..seeing as how my best is just under 45, now I am going to have to go back out there and try it again!

There were some seriously strong athletes out there on Saturday, and it was really neat to see people of ALL levels having a great time and interacting at a fun event.

On Monday morning a group of folks who will be racing in the GORD came up to pre-ride the course. Rick, who runs Sierra Adventure Sports was among them, however he won’t be racing. Instead Rick is going to be a volunteer and help with the timing.

The fact that he is helping and not racing didn’t keep him off the bike though. In fact he almost looks like he is having too much fun in this photo!

We rode at a leisurely pace, just enjoying a day on the bikes. It was windy as all get out though, and that kept it pretty cold out in the open or on exposed ridge lines.

I certainly didn’t want to run the running legs, so the six of them and I rode all three legs of the Duathlon course. When it was all said and done, we stood talking in the parking lot about the course, and the day’s ride. Kim kept shaking her head and saying that it hadn’t been a good day for her, but I thought that she did just fine for being a flat lander and suddenly finding out what riding a hill at altitude feels like.

We packed up our gear and loaded the bikes then decided to head into town for some mexican food. I called Tracie and asked if she wanted to meet us, and happily, she agreed. Kent also came to lunch.

This weekend Tracie and I went up to Page to my brother-in-law’s to attend his wedding.

On the morning of the wedding, Justin said he wanted to take a short ride to clear his head, so, despite the cold, we headed out just as the sun was coming up.

The whole trail is about a 12 mile loop, but we only rode a little less than half of it, as his wedding was at 10:00am. The white line is the trail that circles the edge of the mesa that the city of Page sits atop of.

Justin and me at the most northeast part of the trail with Lake Powel in the background

The part of the trail that we rode was fun and fast for the most part, with some drops that you could take or ride around. There are some places that have a lot of exposure and it is prudent to maintain control of your bike unless you want to plunge off a cliff.

Justin on the Rim View Trail

That is one huge house up there, sitting on about 10 acres all by itself with 360° views…sweet!

Justin on the trail

Well, we did about 6 miles and made it back in time for him to get ready and get to the church on time, and without any trail gashes too!

Next time I go back up, I will definitely take my bike again and ride the whole loop…maybe twice!

Registrations are pouring in for the Go! Off Road Duathlon to be held March 14th in Prescott, Arizona. Entries are limited to 150, so don’t delay! We also are looking for able bodied volunteers who want to get out on the course and make sure racers do what they are supposed to be doing…..that’s right, YOU get to be a Marshall! (Sorry, no brass stars).

Thanks to Barry at the Runner’s Den in the valley for putting up our poster and for his enthusiasm for our event.

Thanks to Bill at Hensley & Co. for agreeing to make us up some banners and some promotional posters as well.

This afternoon Nate, Tim and I went out to Pioneer Park to ride the GORD course but backwards. It is now all dried out and in really good shape. If I go out there (and hopefully get more of you out there) a few more times before the event, the bike course should be in tip top shape.

In the post before this one, I uploaded the course map for anyone that wanted or cared to see. I know it is archaic looking with highlighter and handwriting, so I will work on something that looks a little more professional.

The race is 2 months from today, and entries are trickling in. Remember, it will cost you an extra $5 if you wait much longer!

Because my mountain bike is still at the bike hospital, I had to fore go my usual Wednesday evening ride.

Instead, Kent joined me on a day hike. We started up a drainage that before long became a canyon. The sides of the canyon got steeper and steeper. One side appeared to be a layered volcanic rock, and the other side looked sedimentary….very odd. The trees grew thicker as the canyon narrowed into a serpentine chasm. We rounded a hairpin bend and there in front of us was a waterfall….sans water. It was a place where the water course fell about 15 feet in about 10 linear feet. It must be really beautiful when water is tumbling over the surface.

We exited the canyon as it began to open back up into a valley again. We then struck out toward a cone shaped mountain about a mile distant. Because we were headed up the south-facing slope, it was filled with catclaw (or wait-a-minute bushes). Good thing we were both wearing full length pants instead of shorts! Catclaw is to human skin like a Bass-o-matic is to fish!

At the top of the mountain, we got to witness an amazing sunset. Of course I didn’t have my camera with me! The sky was mostly cloud covered except right at the western horizon. The sky there was brilliant orange, and the sun rays shone up and across the bottom of the clouds just like we always drew them as children. I expected to hear a Holy choir singing.

We headed down and across a valley in the direction of our vehicle. The ground on the flats was muddy. When we got back to the edge of the drainage, we were on the top of a rock face looking down into the canyon. We climbed down the rock, and there in front of us were some petroglyphs! I am always fascinated by the writings and drawings of the ancients of Arizona.

We continued into the canyon, and got back to the car right at last light. It was only about a three and a half mile hike, but it was through some very pretty country!

Yesterday evening Kent and I decided to ride part of the mountain biking leg on the long course for the upcoming Gilmore Adventure Race. Despite all the recent rains and the surplus of vegetation that has popped up because of it, for the most part the course was in very ridable shape.

In fact, I worry that maybe some of the hard core adventure racers will think that maybe it is too easy. We keep the location and course info secret until just days before the event, so am I giving away too much information with this story? Or maybe I am providing a little misdirection?…..hmmm

Now is the time in the preparation for the race that I have to start looking for volunteers, so if you are within driving distance of Prescott, and you want to lend a hand, just let me know!

This will be the biggest race yet in the 7 year history of the GAR. We are expecting approx. 75 teams to compete. It looks like it will be almost half and half when it comes to long or short course, but I can tell you this, both length courses will offer up some challenging terrain and navigation.

I am a Boy Scout volunteer and today I received an e-mail with some very good advice about how to live through lightning season. I am passing it on to all of you.

Lightning Safety Rules and Tips

Before Lightning Strikes…

Keep an eye on the sky. Look for darkening skies, flashes of light, or increasing wind. Listen for the sound of thunder.

If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning. Go to safe shelter immediately.

Listen to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for the latest weather forecasts.

An AM radio will pick up static from lightning strikes in your vicinity before you see or hear them.

When a Storm Approaches.. .

Lighting storms are often announced by a sudden drop in temperature and increase in wind. The temperature drop and breeze are usually the result of a downburst of cold air. Once the air hits the ground, it has no place to go but outward in all directions. In the process, the cold air mixes with the warmer air at ground level, becoming a breeze and a temperature drop. Temperature will also drop from the air moving toward you through all of that cold water, in the storm, that is approaching. This can happen several minutes before it actually begins to rain.

Find shelter in a building or car. Keep car windows closed and avoid convertibles.

Telephone lines and metal pipes can conduct electricity. Unplug appliances. Avoid using the telephone or any electrical appliances.

Avoid taking a bath or shower, or running water for any other purpose.

Turn off the air conditioner. Power surges from lightning can overload the compressor, resulting in a costly repair job!

Draw blinds and shades over windows. If windows break due to objects blow by the wind the shades will prevent glass from shattering into your home.

If Caught Outside…

The summits of mountains, crests of ridges, slopes above timberline, and large meadows are extremely hazardous places to be during lightning storms. If you are caught in such an exposed place, quickly descend to a lower elevation, away from the direction of the approaching storm, and squat down, keeping your head low. A dense forest located in a depression provides the best protection. Avoid taking shelter under isolated trees or trees much taller than adjacent trees. Stay away from water, metal objects, and other substances that will conduct electricity long distances.

Stay in the car if you are traveling. Automobiles offer excellent lightning protection.

If you are in the woods, take shelter under the shorter trees.

If you are boating or swimming, get to land and find shelter immediately!

Protecting Yourself Outside…

Avoid hilltops, open spaces, isolated buildings, exposed sheds or other metal structures. Descend from ridges and mountains on the leeward side.

Don’t handle flammable materials in open containers.

Don’t use metal objects such as fishing rods and golf clubs. Golfers wearing cleated shoes are particularly good lightning rods.

Avoid the highest object in the area. If only isolated trees are nearby, the best protection is to crouch in the open, keeping twice as far away from isolated trees as the trees are high. Whenever lightning is nearby, take off backpacks with either external or internal metal frames. In tents, stay at least a few inches from metal tent poles.

When you are setting up a campsite in the summer-time, keep thunderstorms in mind. Don’t pitch your tent close to the larger trees in the area, since these are the ones sought afterby lighting. Be especially careful to avoid trees that have long vertical notches in their trunks, or have long, narrow strips of bark peeled from the trunk. When lighting hits a tree, most of its force travels down the moist area between the bark and the wood of the trunk. The bark gets stripped off when the resulting stream forces its escape, and the narrow vertical notches come about as the tree heals over the following years.

Go to a low-lying, open place away from trees, poles, or metal objects.

Make sure the place you pick is not subject to flooding

Stop tractor work, especially when the tractor is pulling metal equipment, and dismount. Tractors (including lawn tractors) and other implements in metallic contact with the ground are often struck by lightning.

Get out of the water and off small boats. If you cannot get out of the small boat (i.e., too far from land) you should position yourself as low as possible in the boat, preferably with your entire body below the line of the boat. Do not try to out race the storm to land. Also when getting out of the water go at least 100 yards away from the shore.

Be a Very Small Target!

Lightning takes the path of least resistance to the ground. Since air is a very poor conductor, lighting seeks anything better – and an upright human being is far better for its purpose than air! Stick up above the grass and trees while hiking, and you become a prime target.

Squat low to the ground. Place your hands on your knees with your head between them. Make yourself the smallest target possible. By squatting with your feet close together, you have minimal contact with the ground, thus reducing danger from ground currents.

If the threat of lightning strikes is great, your group should not huddle together but spread out at least 15 feet apart. If one member of your group is jolted, the rest of you can tend to him.

If you can’t get out of the open, put your pack, walking stick, whatever, about 30 feet away from you, propped up high, and huddle on the ground.

Don’t sit down, you make a larger target. Crouch down (between two boulders if possible) on your feet on top of your rolled sleeping bag, a foam pad, coiled rope or whatever supplementary insulation you have and ride out the storm.

Do not lie flat on the ground—this will make you a larger target!

After the Storm Passes…

Stay away from storm-damaged areas.

Listen to the radio for information and instructions.

If Someone is Struck by Lightning…

People struck by lightning carry no electrical charge and can be handled safely.

Call for help. Get some one to dial 9-1-1 or your local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) number.

The injured person has received an electrical shock and may be burned, both where they were struck and where the electricity left their body. Check for burns in both places.

Give first aid. If breathing has stopped, begin rescue breathing. If the heart has stopped beating, a trained person should give CPR.

Learn First Aid and CPR

Take a Red Cross first aid and CPR course. Call your local Red Cross chapter for class schedules and fees.

Today I met two guys for a short ride in the pines. They needed to get it done in 2 hours door to door, so we went from White Spar Campground up the 396, did a little detour around the lakes, and then back down the 396. It was another beautiful day in Prescott, Arizona. We only have about 300 of them a year!

It was a fairly casual pace, although both of these guys were pretty experienced mtb riders, so it wasn’t like some of the rides I take beginners on. We saw a total of 8 hikers and 6 bikers on the trails this morning.

There are literally hundreds of miles of mtb riding available just on the outskirts of Prescott. And if you want a variety of difficulties, we have that too. We have the easiest of easy in part of the rails-to-trails project called the Peavine Trail. We also have a multitude of forest roads, rowdy rock gardens, superfast singletrack, and more. Prescott will soon host the Whiskey Off Road, a ride that offers riders a sampler of what we have in the ways of trails. As a guide, I make it my business to get out and ride as many trails as possible. See you on the trails!

The sport of Adventure Racing has introduced me to a really wonderful group of people. Back in 2001 when we opened the Gilmore Adventure Race up to the public, I got my first taste of who and what Adventure Racers are really about.Now 7 years later, I can tell you that being both a racer and a race director has allowed me the privilege of becoming a member of the Arizona Adventure Racing Family. I say “Family,” because that’s what it feels like, both out on the course in the heat an event, and any other time that I am around other Adventure Racers.

I have never seen another sport where your direct competitors cheer you on or even help you during the event! It is amazing how you can be running up a rockstrewn canyon in the middle of nowhere when another team passes you, and as they do, they say, “Good job!, Keep it up!” Don’t get me wrong, teams are competitive, but never it seems, so competitive that they would ever wish bad luck on their opponents.

Another great thing about this adopted family of mine, is that without exception, every location I have ever either raced, or hosted a race, has been picked up and left cleaner than before the event took place. Adventure Racers don’t wait for someone else to clean up after them, in fact, they take the initiative and clean up after both themselves, and those other users of our great outdoors that seem to throw things anywhere they want to.

Whenever I meet new people, in the course of discussion they almost always end up asking me, “What is Adventure Racing?” Well, here is the Wiki definition. Here in Arizona, we have a very active AR community. Most races are what fall under the “sprint race” category, meaning that they are less than 12 hours in duration, however, contrary to the Wiki definition, several of the Arizona races require teams to be very good at navigation and UTM point plotting.

Hello anyone out there? This is the first post on what I hope will turn into an interesting weblog about well….lots of things, but first and foremost, I want it to be about Adventure Recreation.

Getting outside and doing something that gets you away from the throngs of civilization can be one of the most rewarding things you can do. That hike up to a hilltop to find a spectacular view into the next valley; or a mountain bike ride up an old forest road that takes you into another era when gold prospectors eeked out a living panning for gold along the rocky creek that you have pedaled to.

It is these exhilarating moments in life that I hope to write about. My business (Go! Adventure Recreation) is about helping people find these wow moments. The few hours “out there” that wash you clean, re-charge and invigorate you….they are what Adventure Recreation is all about.

search

About...

I am an avid outdoor recreation enthusiast whose company produces outdoor fitness sporting events. We also have a guided hiking and mountain biking business in Prescott, Arizona. We produce the Gilmore Adventure Race, the GORD (Go! Off Road Duathlon), the 12 Hours At Night Mountain Bike Ride, the TR3 Mountain Bike Duathlon, and now the Discovery Dash. Look for additional events in the year ahead.

I enjoy Mountain biking, Adventure Racing and Orienteering and try to compete in 8-10 events a year.